Funeral home undergoes revamp

Colonial Rose Chapel & Cremation opened this past week, following an extensive renovation of the former Wallace-Martin Funeral Home in downtown Stockton.

A Record article dated April 15, 1952, and reporting on B.C. Wallace, founder of the Wallace Funeral Home as well as Park View Cemetery & Funeral Home in Manteca, celebrating his 50th year as a mortician, said he opened the chapel at 520 N. Sutter St. in 1928.

Much of that history remains evident in the building and, in many cases, is highlighted by the renovation, co-owner said Nicole Omansky said.

"Basically, everything from floor to ceiling got redone on the first floor," she said.

While walls were replaced, new paint applied, electric wiring upgraded and chapel pews refinished and reupholstered, much of the building's history has been preserved or enhanced, including the chapel's stained-glass window, an operating pipe organ and lighting fixtures.

"We kept everything that was original," Omansky said. Enhancements include period photographs of the funeral home from the Bank of Stockton archives.

There have been modern improvements as well. The entire property has been fenced for better security. A closed-circuit television system can display ceremonies in the main chapel to people in a secondary chapel, used as an overflow room, or shown through a password-protected Internet stream to mourners otherwise unable to attend.

Co-owner David Massey, said he got into the funeral business in 1989 working at Park View Cemetery for Wallace's grandson, who was also his stepfather. He figured the job mowing lawns and tending graves might last only a year or two.

"But one year turned into five and five turned into 10, and I took over more and more responsibility ... and, ultimately, I purchased Park View from him in 2001," he said.

In recent years, the Wallace family had not been active in the funeral business but leased the Sutter Street building to other mortuary operators.

Massey said he decided nearly a year ago to purchase the downtown facility and bring it once again under a single family business ownership.

He hopes to bring a renewed shine to what he characterized as once Stockton's premiere funeral chapel and capitalize on the downtown district's revitalization.

"I grew up in this town; I've been here my whole life. I went to Lincoln High School; my mom went to Lincoln High School, my kids went to Lincoln High School. ... Stockton is known for a lot of negative things, but I know Stockton for a lot of positive things, having spent my life here.

"It's something that Stockton needs, and the timing was right," he said.